Hot Dog!

Check out these dog behavior fighting images:

Hot Dog!


Image by elycefeliz
As I was walking by the Cintas Center on Saturday afternoon, I didn’t know how HOT those dawgs were getting –

Enquirer photographer shares account of Crosstown Shootout brawl

Written by Jeff Swinger
As a photographer shooting the Crosstown Shootout, I was waiting for the final seconds to tick off the clock to make a picture of the jubilant winners or the dejected losers, whichever presented itself in front of me.

Instead, it was total mayhem.

All of the sudden the benches cleared and the punches started flying. My vantage point was different than most as I was sitting on the floor looking up at the event. My immediate response was disbelief and the fear of being trampled. I was stuck on the floor with photographers at each side and a media table behind me. The fight was only inches from me. The wave of players converging on me in a split second was intense.

As a photographer my first instinct is to take pictures, but not being able to get off the floor and out of the way I could only try and protect myself and possibly the guys next me. Cameras were being kicked legs stepped on and I was trapped. It came in waves.

Luckily the players moved away from the baseline for a brief moment, long enough for me to pop off the floor and be more mobile. I changed lenses to a shorter lens so I could make pictures at close range and the wave came back. I was able to make photographs of the chaos. Coaches and trainers were pulling players off the floor and a lot of hollering. Other photographers had their cameras grabbed by team personnel trying to keep them from taking pictures. My adrenaline was pumping.

I was happy that none of my fellow photographers were injured. As I ran to the media room to edit and send my photos back to the paper my cell phone was buzzing like crazy. Friends and family from all over were texting and calling to see if I was at “the game” and if I was ok. Editors were calling to ask how fast I could get pictures to the paper and to help with the selection of photos for the next days paper and the quick upload to the internet. My head was spinning and my hands were still shaking. It was pretty wild.

I was saddened by what unfolded. I’ve been photographing sporting events in Cincinnati for the last 12 years. I love the drama in the national and local rivalries at all levels of competition. I am sorry that this great rivalry now has such a black eye.

Cincinnati-Xavier brawl could bring criminal charges
The scene at the end of Saturday’s Cincinnati-Xavier basketball game was ugly and scary enough to invoke memories of last summer’s fight involving Georgetown and a Chinese club team, and even the infamous 2004 brawl between the Pacers and Pistons at Auburn Hills.

But the post-game press conference soundclips — which included Muskateers star Tu Holloway claiming his team had “a whole bunch of gangstas in the locker room” — were just as alarming as the on-court violence. On Sunday, both school suspended four players for their involvement in the fight, but criminal charges could be on the way.

Hamilton County Ohio prosecutor Joe Deters said Monday that he will determine if criminal charges are appropriate following the melee that broke out in the final seconds of Xavier’s 76-53 win. In a statement, Deters said possible charges could include assault and battery or disorderly conduct.

Cincinnati forward Yancy Gates drew the longest suspension — six games — for sucker-punching Xavier center Kenny Frease in the face and then throwing multiple other punches. The Bearcats also suspended junior Cheikh Mbodj and freshman Octavius Ellis for six games and freshman Ge’Lawn Guyn for one.

Holloway will sit for one game for the Muskateers, junior Mark Lyons got a two-game ban and freshman Dezmine Wells and sophomore Landon Amos were suspended for four games.

Holloway’s words after the fight will no doubt linger, even after his 40-minute news conference on Sunday, arranged by the school in an effort to throw some water on the fire.

“I talked to that whole staff. I said, ‘This is my city. I’m cut from a different cloth,’” Holloway said immediately after the game. “None of them guys on their team is like me. I let the whole staff know none of them was like me.” He followed by saying: “I don’t regret anything that happened.”

On Sunday, Holloway recanted, but for many, those words might ring hollow.

Editorial: Make players accountable for Crosstown disgrace

Written by Ray Cooklis
Disgraceful. Shocking. Embarrassing. Shameful. Pick your adjective to describe the thuggish poor sportsmanship that marred Saturday’s Crosstown Shootout. It probably fits.

The ugly brawl that broke out with 9.4 seconds left in the University of Cincinnati-Xavier University men’s basketball game left college sports fans nationwide stunned. Xavier’s Kenny Frease wasn’t the only one who wound up with a black eye. All of Cincinnati did. It was a national humiliation for the Queen City, and a blow for two great schools and fine basketball programs. Their programs’ reputations have been tarnished.

XU and UC must take swift, firm measures to show that such behavior is not acceptable and to ensure it doesn’t happen again. At the very least, the should be suspensions of all players whose words or actions contributed to this mess. UC acted quickly to suspend several players Sunday afternoon.

In addition to suspensions, the universities should put all those players in the equivalent of a workplace performance improvement plan. They should expect certain behaviors from the players during that period, such as: Courtesy. Discipline. Hard work. Modesty.

School administrations should get together and commit the UC and XU teams to a joint community service project to reinforce the truth that playing college athletics at this level is a great privilege — one that carries a moral obligation to give back.

And let’s not overlook the vile taunts of some of the fans in the stands at Xavier’s Cintas Center. Fan behavior should be part of the solution, too.

Here’s the real shame of it: It didn’t have to be this way. It never has to be this way.

fight or play


Image by Blue♦Gum

Hot Dog!